The present invention relates to a liquid jet cutting method, as is preferably used to cut up solid materials.
Methods for liquid jet cutting of solid materials have been known from the prior art for a relatively long time. Here, water is preferably compressed by way of a compressor unit to a very high pressure which is usually several thousand bar. The liquid subsequently flows through a nozzle, exits through an outlet opening and, as a result, forms a liquid jet which is directed onto the material to be cut up. On account of the high speed and the high pulse of the water, the water jet smashes the material in the region of the liquid jet and cuts it up as a result. Solid materials can be machined by way of said method, for example metal, glass, plastic, wood and similar materials. Since the compression of the water requires a large amount of energy and the liquid jet or the water jet is operated continuously, said material machining is possible only with a high power consumption which can be several tens of kilowatts in the customary known systems. The operating costs of a system of this type are correspondingly high, as is the required storage space on account of the large dimensions of such systems.
In order to improve the action of the water jet, it is likewise known to mix abrasive materials into the water jet, which abrasive materials are entrained by the water and strike the structural surface with high energy and thus improve the action of the water jet. However, the costs are increased further as a result of the addition of the abrasive materials, and the used water can no longer be simply returned into the circuit, since the abrasive materials first of all have to be filtered out in a complicated method and result in increased wear in the system.
DE 10 2013 201 797 A1 has disclosed an apparatus for liquid jet cutting, which apparatus does not use a continuous water jet for cutting up the material, but rather a pulsed water jet, in the case of which the liquid jet is interrupted at regular intervals. The pulsed liquid jet has the advantage, in particular, that the cutting device manages with a relatively low pressure and, above all, is considerably more energy-efficient than the known constant jet cutting methods. The operating parameters are of decisive significance, however, for an optimum action of the liquid jet cutting.